“Portrait Of A Blank Slate” is the indie-rock track that was first name-dropped by bassist Ash Kabosu as his “favourite song on the EP” on the official Lovejoy discord server. It is also the only song from Wake Up & It’s Over to have never been performed live prior to the EP’s release.
The open...
[Verse 1]
He told me that much and now he's dead
Taught me to kill my indulgences with a sharp blow to the temple
Pick up the phone call and do everything he says
I could take a plastic camera
We could make such a pretty picture
Oh, so happy, oh, oh, so happy
I'm pretty cool once you get to know me
[Refrain]
I feel at some point I broke my mind
I'm always searching, the silent type
How do you all make it look so easy?
You open your hearts up so quickly, it scares me
[Verse 2]
She's an artist, paints across my chest
Goes to parties, act like hotel guests
Wake up Monday, now it's over
Don't you know no one gets what they came here for?
I could paint her, wrapped around her
We could make such a pretty picture
Oh, so happy, oh, oh, so happy
I'm pretty cool once you get to know me
[Chorus]
But I'm just the same, I've got a boring name
Across the world from what you want and what you came here for
So I'll wait here for you
I said, "Please, just let me stay"
Oh, just let me stay, oh
[Verse 3]
I guess you know now what to expect
He lives your own life in retrospect
You know it bores me? His insecurities
Breaks you down just to act as the architect
I could wait here, by the west pier
Watch the flotsam float, slowly disappear
Oh, so happy, oh, oh, so happy
If only you knew just how much better things could be
[Refrain]
Another week of action
Another hypoglycemic reaction
(Woo)
[Chorus]
But I'm just the same, I've got a boring name
Across the world from what you want and what you came here for
So I'll wait here for you
I said, "Please, just let me stay"
Oh, just let me stay
Oh, just let me
[Outro]
I'm sorry, it's all so predictable
I'm sorry, it's all so predictable, I know
Portrait Of A Blank Slate was written by Wilbur Soot & Joe Goldsmith & Ash Kabosu & Mark Boardman.
Portrait Of A Blank Slate was produced by Mark Crew & Dan Priddy.
Lovejoy released Portrait Of A Blank Slate on Fri May 12 2023.
When I was asked to write this song to distract people from the recent disasters I thought, what better way to distract people than with the concept of society’s relationship between sex and love. The constant grapple between what you want now and what you need forever.
–Wilbur Soot via Twitter
On October 4, 2023, the music video for “Portrait of a Blank Slate” won in the Best Music Video category at the 2023 Nashville Film Festival.